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Small Businesses Oppose Petition Over Imported Shopping Bags

U.S. small businesses that supply the branded shopping bags for retailers and foodservice businesses across the country have denounced a petition by Novolex—a private-equity owned, multi-billion-dollar packaging giant, saying it misuses U.S. trade laws to drive them out of the market.

The Alliance for Responsible Trade in Paper Bags, representing hundreds of U.S. workers in the specialty paper bag market, is opposing a trade petition from a group calling itself ‘The Coalition for Fair Trade in Shopping Bags’ requesting that the Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission impose antidumping and countervailing duties on imported shopping bags from nine different countries. The targeted imports range from restaurant carryout bags to high-end retail shopping bags.

‘The Coalition for Fair Trade in Shopping Bags’ is led by Novolex—a $6 billion, highly automated producer of stock paper bags owned by Apollo Global Management and the Carlyle Group, two of the largest private equity firms in the world. Already the dominant player in the U.S. packaging industry, Novolex controls an estimated 75 percent of U.S. production of paper bags.

“U.S. trade law is intended to protect American companies and workers from unfair foreign trade, not drive out competitors that offer more appealing product choices,” said Terri Ethridge, Partner at AnnJoy, a Florida-based supplier of custom branded packaging. “Novolex is not a reliable supplier and refuses to meet the needs of small- and medium-sized businesses. American small businesses like ours provide superior customer service, dependability, quality, and variety compared to Novolex. They only brought this case because they don’t want to compete against us in the marketplace.”

Novolex’s trade petition targets imported product from no fewer than nine countries—Portugal, Turkey and Colombia to producers in southeast Asia—while notably excluding Mexico, from which Novolex itself imports products.

“This trade petition is really about one company trying to knock its competitors out of the market so it can force retail and restaurant customers to accept its mass-produced stock paper bag offerings,” said Andrew Straitman, CEO of Commonwealth Packaging Co., a third-generation, family-owned custom-packaging provider based in Harrisburg, Pa. “Novolex doesn’t even make many of the types of bags that they are trying to shut out of the market. They can’t keep up with what their competitors are offering, so they’re asking the U.S. Government to do their dirty work by imposing duties that give them an unfair advantage while sticking consumers with higher prices.”

Just last month, Novolex announced a price increase of 19 percent amid declining raw material prices—highlighting the unparalleled pricing dominance it already exerts over the U.S. market. Meanwhile, the highly automated company’s hoped-for market gain from its trade ploy would come at the expense of lost jobs for hundreds of U.S. workers.

“Novolex is complaining about low-priced imports, but everyone in this industry knows that they are the dominant market player with tremendous pricing power, which only gets stronger if they get a successful outcome in this case,” said Gordon Summerfield, senior VP of sales and marketing at Trevose, Pa.-based S. Walter Packaging Group, which has supplied packaging products to the retail industry for over 120 years. “Trade law should not be used to reinforce anticompetitive behavior in the U.S. marketplace.”

The USITC will hold a hearing on the Coalition for Fair Trade in Shopping Bags petition on Thursday, March 14. Later this spring, the Commerce Department will issue a final decision on duty levels and the ITC will determine whether injury actually exists.

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Garden City Equity Invests in WeBuild’s Foodservice Turn-Key Service

Garden City Equity is investing in WeBuild, a manufacturer of custom store elements and provider of turn-key program management services for national restaurant and retail franchise brands.

Jeff Fenster founded WeBuild in 2017 to support the rapid new unit growth of his healthy food chain brand, Everbowl. After successfully standing up over 50 Everbowl locations, Fenster saw the opportunity to provide other franchise brands with the same turn-key services – including custom fabrication, logistics, installation, general construction and inventory management.

WeBuild marks Garden City Equity’s seventh investment since 2020. Other notable investors in WeBuild include Drew Brees – athlete and co-owner of Walk-On’s, Smalls Sliders and Stretch Zone; and Perry Rogers – co-owner of Big Chicken.

“Emerging restaurant and retail brands are looking for creative ways to offset the increasing costs and complexity of new unit development. There is immense value in having a partner who has experience avoiding overruns and delays who can support each phase of multi-site brand rollouts – all while having a more streamlined development process,” said Fenster.

“We are very excited to welcome WeBuild to the Garden City family of companies,” said Michael Arrieta, Garden City Equity founder & CEO.

Garden City Equity recently invested in Wathco, a national leader in providing remodel, conversion, and expansion project services to multi-site restaurant, retail, and hospitality brands with nationwide footprints.

Arrieta added, “This investment is extremely strategic for us as we can now further help our national restaurant clients simplify their entire development process – WeBuild provides custom store elements and Wathco provides the installation and project management services.”

Garden City Equity is a people-first holding company that invests in exceptional founder and family-owned businesses. It partners with owners who truly care about the legacy of their businesses, and provide them with a fast, fair, and straightforward acquisition process. It utilizes little to no debt, hold for the long term, and actively engage our family of 50+ mission-aligned shareholders to help grow our businesses.

For more news of interest to the foodservice industry, subscribe to Gourmet News.

The Fresh Market Presents Gourmet Easter Meals

The Fresh Market is helping its guests celebrate the joy of spring and create an Easter to remember this year. With a focus on fresh, gourmet food, The Fresh Market is the perfect one-stop-shop for everything guests need to host a beautiful, stress-free meal and celebration. The specialty fresh food retailer’s prepared meals, sides, and desserts, which include several new options this year, make entertaining effortless, offering incredible flavor without all the fuss.

The Fresh Market’s variety of ready to heat and ready to cook meals are available to pre-order online in advance through Mar. 27 at 2 p.m., with pickup in store Mar. 28-31:

  • Easter Ham Meal (Serves 8-10): Ready to heat. $99.99 – Note that members of our Ultimate Loyalty Experience save $10 ($89.99 for members)! Includes:
    • Spiral Sliced Bone-In Honey Ham (9 lb)
    • Fresh Pineapple Slices (16 oz)
    • Green Beans with Sea Salt and Black Pepper Butter Steamer Bag (2 lb)
    • White Cheddar Scalloped Potatoes (2.5 lb)
    • Soft Golden Dinner Rolls (12 ct)
    • Deluxe White Cake (7 in)
    • The Fresh Market Reusable Thermal Tote
  • Easter Ham Meal for 4: Ready to heat. $64.99. Includes:
    • Spiral Sliced Bone-In Honey Ham (3.5 lb)
    • Fresh Pineapple Slices (16 oz)
    • Green Beans with Sea Salt and Black Pepper Butter Steamer Bag (2 lb)
    • White Cheddar Scalloped Potatoes (2.5 lb)
    • Soft Golden Dinner Rolls (4 ct)
    • Strawberry Bar Cake (18 oz)
    • The Fresh Market Reusable Thermal Tote
  • Herb Gremolata Lamb Market Meal Kit for Two. $19.99. Includes:
    • Premium Lamb Steak
    • Asparagus
    • Herb Gremolata
    • Gnocchi
    • Olive Oil and Seasoning Packets
  • Easter Rack of Lamb Meal for 2: Ready to cook. $49.99. Includes:
    • Your Choice of French Cut Rack of Lamb – Seasoned or Unseasoned (1.5 lb)
    • Seasoned Asparagus (1 lb)
    • Mascarpone Whipped Potatoes with Rosemary (1 lb)
    • Hand Dipped Chocolate Strawberries (8 ct)
    • The Fresh Market Reusable Shopping Bag
  • Easter Prime Rib Meal for 2: Ready to heat. $54.99. Includes:
    • Fully Cooked Prime Rib (1 lb)
    • Seasoned Green Beans (1 lb)
    • Mascarpone Whipped Potatoes with Rosemary (1 lb)
    • The Fresh Market Rosemary Horseradish Aioli (4 oz)
    • The Fresh Market Reusable Thermal Tote
  • Easter Brunch Meal for 4: Ready to heat. $19.99. Includes:

The Fresh Market is also offering several a la carte mains, sides and desserts (including the new Italian rum cake and Lemon Cheesecake) for purchase through the Easter holiday.

In addition, no Easter would be complete without beautiful spring flowers and the perfect Easter basket. The Fresh Market has festive treats to make those baskets extra special for guests of all ages. The retailer’s extensive floral department has everything from tulip bunches to fresh roses to spring lilies and rose lilies. For inspiration on making Easter even more special, The Fresh Market will host an Easter shoppable livestream on March 7 at noon featuring Chef Anna Rossi.

Voted as the “Best Grocery Store in America” by USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards in 2023, 2022 and 2021, “America’s Best Customer Service 2021” by Newsweek and Statista and a top 5 most trusted grocery retail brand for specialty and natural/organic foods in the 2022 BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards, The Fresh Market helps guests discover the best with time-saving meal solutions, unique ingredients, and delicious food for any occasion. From fresh produce and exceptional meat and seafood to signature baked goods and thousands of organic options, the specialty grocer has something to please every palate. The Fresh Market operates 161 stores in 22 states across the United States, inspiring guests to discover new flavors and cook with confidence. For more information, please visit www.thefreshmarket.com or follow the company on Facebook, TwitterInstagramTikTok and Pinterest.

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